Gray Guys/Girls Masters Focus Triathlete Forum (all levels welcome)--CLOSED (Page 14)

Good morning!

Dave --- bummer.  As others have said just listen to the docs.

I will be saying little "Scottisms" in the pool today.  Specifically reach for the wall and "thumb hip".  

Yucky, rainy day here.  I am hoping that it does not continue and mess the group ride I had planned on tomorrow.  I'm not a big fan of riding on wet roads for training purposes.

I think I have finally turned the tide on food cravings this week.  I've managed to walk past free muffins, donuts, and even candy canes without picking one up.  I hope this extends into the weekend.  

My hip problem actually started out as a pain in my calf.  I was doing a track workout with a group from the LRS and they had a chiropractor there to stretch people out and help with any issues.  So I talked to them and he told me that it was actually a nerve entrapment in my hip that was the problem.  So I went to see him a couple of times a week for ART for several months and I seemed to be OK.  A year later (this past spring) the problems started again.  So I went back to him and we started the ART treatments again but he also said the problem would return unless I strengthened and "evened out" my lower body.  That's when he recommended the trainer I went to.  I did 10 sessions with the trainer (would have done more but couldn't afford it).  He did an evaluation on the first day to see where my imbalances were.  We did a lot of lunges, squats, balance work, core work - some with weights, some without.  I wish I could remember more of the exercises. I'll try to come up with a list of some this weekend in case anyone is interested.
Janet

Oh yes! Please!

Thank you Wendy!  I am touched.  "Scottisms" made my day.  Glad they help.

Thank you for that feedback Steve.  I have been using the 'ladder analogy' for a couple years now and have often wondered if it actually helped to understand the catch better or if it just created more confusion.

Hi Dave,

I am going to steal that phrase. One of the most consistent problems I see, especially with newer swimmers, is that they don't exhale underwater, which generally leads to all kinds of technique problems.  "Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles, BREATH; bubbles, bubbles, bubbles, BREATH" is just so much better than 'exhale underwater.'

Thanks!

I have a series I did after I tore my hop flexors.  Can't find it at the moment but I'll look for it.

found:

Lie on your side, perpendicular to the floor, fully straight ankle at 90 degrees, parallel to floor. Raise upper leg about 3 inches and hold it there throughout:

1) raise lower leg toward ceiling 3 inches & return 5x

2) pull foot up axis of body, flexing hip & knee 5x

3) leg raises ~10 inches

4) bicycle 2-3 inches from upper leg

5) point toes, do leg circles clockwise and counterclockwise

repeat all on the other side.

Clam shells are good too, lunges and walking lunges with a resistance band are good. Use a resistance band and do duck walkouts

We did box step ups with a resistance belt on the other night ....wowsa that was some kind of hip flexor action!

Hi Judi,

I would like to make a couple observations.  If you currently have a coach telling you the things you wrote down, I will ALWAYS defer to the coach on deck.  That said however, a couple of your comments kind of set off an alarm bell, well, at least a caution bell and since they are common technique flaws I thought I would chat about them for a moment.

Quoting the segments from your post:

"Head up, water line at goggle line" - I would argue that if you hold your head high enough that the water line is even with the goggle line, your head is too high in the water.  Remember as a triathlete, your freestyle stroke should be efficient and focus on conservation of energy.  Holding your head up that high will put pressure on the neck, shoulder, and back muscles.  It takes a fair amount of energy to hold your head up that high.  I generally have the waterline just about even with my hairline, only a couple inches, but it takes a great deal of pressure off the upper core.  Also, carrying your head that high will cause the legs to drop, which 'applies the brakes.'  My suggestion would be to try lowering your head just a little bit to where the water line is closer to your hairline.

"Don't over rotate" - I rarely see anyone actually over-rotate.  If someone does have a problem with over-rotation, it is typically to the breathing side and most frequently the swimmer does not breath to both sides.  I don't know if that applies to you or not.  Learning to bi-laterally breath (breath to both sides) generally will eliminate any over-rotation problem.  Alternatively, just concentrate on even, symmetrical body rotation.

"Kick" - I will address kicking in a separate post later this evening or tomorrow morning.

"Don't pull until your head is back in neutral and you 'see' the arm out front" - If you precisely follow the first half of that statement, your timing will be wrong and your stroke will not be very powerful or efficient.  Let me try and explain why.  We will look at two different things here - the pull and breathing.  When you are not taking a breath, your head should be stationary, meaning in a fixed position, basically looking at the bottom of the pool, what most coaches call the neutral position.  When it's time to take that pesky breath, your head rotates with your shoulders.  Now, let's jump over and look at your arms/hands while your taking that breath.  As your hand enters the water, body rotation helps your hand get to full extension.  Indeed, you perform the catch as your hand reaches full extension.  Your shoulders are at maximum rotation at that point, and because your head follows your shoulder when you breath, you would actually be at 'mid-breath' when you begin your pull. If you wait until your head returns to the 'neutral' position before you begin your catch/pull, you have to put a pretty significant hitch in your giddy-up.  You have to pause and glide and as you do that, you unload your shoulder rotation.  That reduces the length of your stroke by several inches, for me it would be over a foot.  More importantly, as you unload your shoulder rotation, you disengage the back and core muscles so your stroke will not be near as powerful.  The timing of your stroke should key off of body rotation - when you get to full extension, which occurs at maximum body rotation, you begin the catch and pull - and your breathing should key off of shoulder rotation.  Seeing 'the arm out front' is really kind of a moot issue.  You start the stroke at full extension, if you can't see your hand when you start your stroke, then your hand is likely too deep.

If your timing is what you wrote about, this is going to feel a bit awkward the first couple times you try it.  If you get the timing correct, you will be considerably faster and you will feel like your using less energy (because you will be fully engaging the back and core muscles which are much more powerful than your shoulder muscles).

Again I will say, I don't know if this all applies to you or not as I haven't seen you in the water.  Just basing it on what you wrote in your post.

Originally posted by lutzman

Originally posted by k9car363

Originally posted by lutzman

The other "Scottism" I use I think came from one of his blogs where he talked about the idea of thinking about the hands using an underwater ladder than is running directly under you and you use it to pull yourself along. Great visualization.

Thanks, Scott! Steve

Thank you for that feedback Steve.  I have been using the 'ladder analogy' for a couple years now and have often wondered if it actually helped to understand the catch better or if it just created more confusion.

It's all great info. One of these days Scott my travels will get me to S. California. I would really enjoy the opportunity to meet you at the pool. But right now, all my trips are east/southeast. Steve

I would enjoy that also.  I'd be honored to spend an hour or two with you in the pool.

Thanks Scott,

I typically have my head too low, I have been told I bury it.  So I think they are exaggerating how high I should have my head so I *might* get it to the hair line.

I do bilaterally breathe---but I tend to over rotate with one side and don't always keep kicking when I am breathing.  Almost every one I have worked with has observed this so I have to keep at it.  My kick is fair the rest of the time but I tend to "kick for balance" as opposed to "kick for power"

I will give the "climbing ladder" some thought in my swims this weekend.  

I don't consistently swim with the Master's class at my gym for several reasons--we can't keep a consistent coach and the one I used to adore (and gave me the best feedback) moved.  The people they have on deck post workouts but don't offer a lot of feedback for improvement.  They just stand around doing fluff stuff for the hour.

There is a great swim group from a guy in my tri club but I can't afford the sessions and he is way out of my way to get to.  He got my water phobic friend through a HIM last year and she's planning 2 HIM and IMLOU this year. He's done some swim clinics with the tri club that I have attended and I get a lot from those sessions.

Weekly total 806 minutes workouts.

2.6 lbs. lost.

Yesterday was a rainy day here.  I headed out for a run when there was a lull but stopped after about 5 minutes.  My heel had been bothering me all morning and after running 5 minutes I decided that a run would be a bad idea.  I had PF a while ago and never want to go through that again.  So I did a bike trainer session instead.  Looks like I will be wearing my boot at night for a few days.

Today's run is in serious jeopardy.  I am up a bit late after having had to much to drink last night.  I should never have more than two glasses of wine over the course of an evening since the third usually (always?) leads to more.  But it was a fun evening.

Anyways, I've got to shuttle a novice highway driver to her drum line practice.  She's not done much highway driving and the way there is almost all highway.  She'll drive there, I come back...then I go there, and she will drive back.  Big chunk of time gone - poof.  At least, the rest of the season she can drive herself.

I hope everyone has a nice day. 

300 minutes training. 0 wt loss.

Go Judi! You are a force!

I am going on vacation this week so I'll be late posting for next week. Hopefully I will keep up with training, I have good intentions, but I am making no huge promises.